Troye Sivan just proved why he’s so vital in the fight for marriage equality

Some pop stars stand for more than just music. Some use their powerful position in the minds and hearts of the public to make the world a better place, and Troye Sivan just proved again why he is one of these pop stars.

His album ‘Blue Neighbourhood’ (which is almost a year old now!) has been hailed as a beacon for LGBT youth everywhere and Troye has received critical praise for portraying LBGT relationships in his music videos.

But, unlike many countries, including the UK and the USA, Australia still has not passed a law to allow same-sex marriage and, in fact, a bill which would have allowed the Australian public to vote whether they agreed with marriage equality was just rejected by the national parliament earlier on this month. The latest in a series of deliberate spanners thrown in the works to stop the progression of the bill for marriage equality Down Under.

Last night Australia held the 30th annual ARIA Awards to recognise home-grown musical talent, with Troye Sivan winning Song of the Year for ‘Youth’. He decided to use this platform to reopen the debate for marriage equality.

“This is for every gay Australian kid who wants to make music, you can do it and win an ARIA too.”

He also revealed what it’s like to be a spokeperson for LBGT rights in an backstage interview:

“It freaks me out sometimes, it’s a lot of pressure. But It would be irresponsible of me to not do my best to embrace it as much as I can.

I’ve been so blessed to have such an amazing platform to talk to so many people and I’m going use it every single second to talk about the things that I think are really important, and fight for the causes that I think are important.”

He also directly addressed the issue of the rejected bill for a public vote on same-sex marriage:

“To me, it feels like it’s no longer an issue of the people and just an issue for politicians. Australia is such a progressive, inclusive country and I’m so glad to be from here; it sucks that gay marriage isn’t represented.

It’s only a matter of time but that doesn’t mean we can get complacent.

I feel what I can do is keep pushing the issue forward as far as the opinion of the public goes.”

Troye also received a shout out from non other than Aussie gay icon, Kylie Minogue, who earlier in the year declared she would not marry her fiance, British actor Joshua Sasse, until same-sex marriage was legal in Australia.

The pair, who introduced Troye’s performance of ‘Youth’, were both wearing marriage equality T-shirts:

Kylie: “We’re here to introduce a shining light in the Australian music industry but were also here to say thank you to everyone who supported Josh’s campaign for equality.”

Joshua: “This is more than just a movement, this is people’s lives and we want to say to every single member of the LGBT community: ‘You are not alone. You have a voice. And if we all stand together we can bring Australia back on the right side of history and make 2017 the year that we all say ‘I do’ Down Under’.”

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Having studied Russian and Spanish at the University of Leeds, David moved to Moscow to work in the education sector. Upon returning to UK soil, David initially immersed himself in the wonderful world of MP! as a music writer.

Now head of all things content, David takes being a music fanboy to a whole new level, and can often be found dancing like there's nobody watching to 'Shout Out To My Ex', obsessing over Lauren Jauregui and defending Taylor Swift's honour.